The ADBC solicitation invites proposals for the creation of a Home Unifying Biocollections (HUB). Specifically,

The national HUB will coordinate the digitization effort, fostering partnerships, training, and innovations, facilitating workflows, serving as a central site for integrating data and techniques, monitoring data online in a timely manner and regular schedule, and establishing cohesion and interconnectivity among digitization projects funded by this program or other existing digitization activities. In addition, the HUB will coordinate activities with the thematic collections networks, described below, enable ongoing communication between partners in the digitization activity, and help to identify gaps and priorities for digitization efforts. Innovative proposals for this entity are strongly encouraged and can come from a single institution, an institution with partners through subawards, a virtual organization, or other creative models that will provide unity and oversight for the national resource.

Are you planning to submit a HUB proposal? Would you like to collaborate on a HUB proposal? Do you have any questions or ideas about the HUB or the ADBC solicitation? Please let us know using the comment string.

If you are planning a proposal, please let us know, at a high level, what you propose to accomplish, how you intend to create a HUB, and the philosophy(ies) behind your actions (e.g., how you would engage the community or TCNs?).

An open and frank conversation with the community will only make the HUB a welcome asset to our work with collections and informatics.

4 Responses to HUB Open Discussion

The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) is keen to work with potential HUB applicants to help coordinate community-building activities in their proposal. Interested parties should contact Rich Rabeler (rabeler@umich.edu) to initiate this discussion.

The Smithsonian Institution approached NSF with a request for advice on whether or not SI could submit a HUB proposal or be a subawardee on a HUB proposal submitted by another institution. NSF’s General Counsel has ruled that the Smithsonian is ineligible to be an awardee or subawardee on either HUB or TCN proposals. We assume that there is no NSF prohibition against the Smithsonian’s involvement in proposals as long as no NSF funds are requested for this involvement. Of course, their involvement may be constrained by the lack of financial support.

In addition to having the largest US biologicial collection, an SI staff member is co-chair of the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections (IWGSC) and another SI staff member is chair of the Steering Committee of Scientific Collections International (SciColl). SI hopes to find a way to work with the HUB to coordinate its work with IWGSC and SciColl.

This Google document is an email correspondence between Rob Gualnick (University of Colorado) and Katja Seltmann (North Carolina State University) regarding the role a HUB might play as we develop our TCN proposal. The conversation addresses issues that are likely relevant to others so we made the document public. The conversation is ongoing….do please get in touch if you wish to participate in the document.